The Family Ties Syndrome
by ChandaK562
Summary: When the MIB ends up in the middle of Sam's fugitive chase, what might change? A US Marshals/MIB the Series Crossover.
1. Chapter 1

Jay shot a look at Edie from where the two were sitting in the back seat of the LTD, and tried to subtly point to their partners in the front seat. Kay was focused on his driving, and Aileen was checking out the city out the passenger side window, but he was sure that he had seen those tendrils of hers twitching in the rear view mirror. Was a little alien action going on up there that those two didn't want him to find out about?

Edie looked over at him and nodded slightly. She had seen it too. They were going to have a lot to talk about, that was for sure, once they got the city, and to wherever Agent Kay intended to let them off. She just hopped that Agent X's cousin, riding in the SUV behind them, wouldn't mind having to hear more than a little gossip. With the preparations Aileen had made, and the fuss over how her human suit looked, she had been halfway tempted to make sure she packed up her place before they left home, in anticipation of a possible move. As it was, she had settled for bringing half of her massive book collection along, claiming they were duplicates that she needed to trade.

Kay looked in the mirror at his parter, and had to fight to keep from rolling his eyes. Maybe leaving Jay and Edie alone together wasn't the best idea in the world, but surely with X's cousin in the middle of things, they couldn't manage too get into too much trouble. Any trouble they got into, though, he could deal with later. He needed the time alone with Aileen, to…

The communicator on the dashboard beeped before Kay had time to finish his thought.

"Kay, got a problem at your location." Zed said as soon as Aileen clicked the communicator on. "Alcidian cabbie just spotted it and called it in. Looks like we've got another Beruga on the loose. Containment crew's on the way, but the lot of you, X and Elle are almost on top of it."

"You're letting X and Elle get around a Beruga after what happened last time?" Jay chuckled, remembering the fit Elle had pitched, when her partner had offered her up as Beruga bait. "Good thing that his cousin's a nurse. He pulls another trick like he did before, he'll probably be needing one."

"Don't think it will go that far, son." Zed said. At least he hoped with X's mother there visiting, along with his cousin, that it didn't. "Looks like the Beruga's still on an iron diet, a long way from going after people."

"We're on it." Kay told Zed as he pulled over. He climbed out of the car and took a moment to survey the situation before issuing orders. "Slick, take Edie and go that way, check out the buildings. Aileen and I will head back the other way. There's a train track. Might be a tempting target."

"Yeah." Jay chuckled as Kay and Aileen started to leave. "Hey, just don't the two of you do anything I…. Well, Zed…" No, he had seen the looks their boss gave X's mother Zoe, when he thought no one was looking. "Don't do anything that the worms wouldn't do!"

"I ought to have packed more of my books." Edie said. "Those things are going to be a pain to get shipped, if things keep going the way they look like they're heading. So, have you ever dealt with a Beruga?"

Before Jay could reply, they heard someone calling.

"Wait up!" X's cousin Zara called as she hurried down the sidewalk to join them, the long, reddish brown hair of her human suit swaying despite the ribbons holding them in loose braids on either side of her face. She did make a nice looking human, Jay had to admit, and without her cousin's complaints about wearing a human suit too.

"Thought your cousin would want you to stick with him, with that thing on the loose." Jay told her.

"My cousin and that little human of his were arguing about the last time that they dealt with a Beruga." Zara told them. "I was about to tell them to get a room, except that X would probably have to ask me for the money to pay for it. I thought it made more financial sense to head this way."

"A room?" Jay frowned. "Wait, is all of that arguing some sort of Jeedangian courting thing?"

"I don't know about other Jeedangians, but it is for my cousin, not that it's been very successful for him so far. It does seem like Agent Elle likes it a lot more than the females back home, though. Maybe Aunt Zoe won't have to hold an auction to try to get a daughter-in-law after all." Zara said.

"Great. So, we're the only ones here not thinking about sex, then?" Jay said.

"Well, I don't know about what you're thinking." Edie said with a grin.

Jay just shook his head before turning to Zara. "You sure you don't want to maybe wait back at the car? Beruga can be…."

"I've dealt with one before. Nasty things." Zara nodded.

"Wait. I thought they didn't eat Jeedangians." Jay said. X would definitely be needing a nurse, and possibly all of the king's horses and men, to put him back together again, if he had made that one up, and used Elle as bait for a laugh.

"They don't. Someone back home even has a business, renting them out to clean up scrap metal at construction sites. The problem was that some idiot rented one, left it fastened in his yard to clean up, and then took a very long hike. His house was right next to the city's main shuttleport. I think you can guess what happened. It took twenty-five animal control officers, and every peacekeeper in the city to catch the thing. Didn't X tell you about it? He ranted about it for three hours once at a family reunion."

"He's handled a beruga before?" Jay wasn't sure if Elle would be pleased or not to learn that, and that her partner really didn't know what he was doing. "So, you're sure you want to…."

"I've got my bio-scanner. It's short range, but if we get close enough, it ought to pick up the beruga." Zara said as she pulled the scanner in question out of her bag, frowning as she took stock of the medical supplies that she had on hand. If the beruga switched to a carbon diet, she would definitely prefer to have more equipment handily, but what she did have would have to do if necessary.

"Well, okay." Jay agreed as he pulled out his own scanner, before picking a way to go. "Just stick close, though, okay? Don't need your cousin complaining if something goes wrong."

A few minutes later the trio stood outside the rear door of a building as Jay looked from the lock to the readings on his scanner with a frown.

"Retirement home. Isn't that where senior members of your species live?" Zara asked as she looked up from her own scanner. The beruga was still too far away for the scanner to detect it, but there was definitely beruga residue near the door.

"Yeah." Just perfect. The thing might be on a iron rich diet at the moment, but if any of those seniors saw the beruga, it would give them a heart attack. Shot off lock or not, they had to get in there. "Spread out, and find that thing fast!" He ordered as he pushed the door open.

A couple of minutes later, Jay was poking around, when he a voice startled him.

"What are you doing here?" the older man demanded.

"Department of Health, Division Six." Jay said as he reached for his ID.

"Department of Health?" Another man said as he hurried to join the first man, followed by several ladies. "You here to investigate that idiot Mister Weaver with the ambulance service? Because he tried to pronounce Murray dead just yesterday, and he didn't have a thing wrong with him besides a broken toe!"

"Ask if he's here with those other people." One of the ladies demanded. "Never seen anything like it in my life, people running around the building like that!"

"Hopefully they're with the Department of Water, Division Six." Zara said as she came down the hallway, Edie right behind her and a bottle of something in her hand. "Agent Jay, I think we might have a problem. I found these, and there are I don't want to think of how many more, all empty."

"Iron pills." Jay murmured. "Would this be enough to fill it up?"

"If it wasn't, biting into the water main in the basement probably did." Zara told him. "It's flooded. I wouldn't recommend going down there unless you have deep water experience."

"Water. Which means it's likely moved on to carbon." Just perfect. "We've got to find that thing." Jay said as he headed for the steps.

"Jay?" Edie called. "You're more experienced in this, I know, but wouldn't it be a lot faster to take the elevator?"

"Probably." What was he thinking? Jay pulled out his communicator, as he hit the button for the first floor. "Kay, where are you? Got a big problem here!"

"Cemetery. What's the problem, slick?" Kay asked.

"Beruga's on the loose in a retirement home, and it's moved on to a carbon diet, that's what's the problem." Jay said. "If it gets to eating on all these seniors, I don't know how Zed's going to cover that one up."

"Got it." Kay said just as someone called out.

"Sammy? Hey, Sammy! Where's Noah?"

"That is the without a doubt the worst looking human suit I have ever seen." Aileen whispered to Kay as she took in the sight of the short man hurrying across the cemetery towards them.

"That isn't a human suit." Kay said. "Slick, little delay. We'll be there as soon as we can."

"That isn't a…. Are you sure? That's actually a human?" Aileen asked.

"I wasn't for three years." Kay said. Just perfect. What was his brother's team doing here, and where in the world was his brother?

"Delay. Can't believe this." Jay grumbled as the elevator moved up another floor. "Someone's going to get eaten for sure. Anyone picking up anything?"

"There. Next floor. There's something up there that could be the beruga." Edie said as she looked at her scanner.

"Still to far away for mine." Zara said. "The range is only maybe a 150 of your yards."

"Ought to help narrow it down, though. That's good." Jay said as the elevator opened and they got out. "The second that things gives a beep you let us know."

After that, things almost seemed to happen in fast forward. The three moved down the hallway, scanning for any sign of the beruga. Then two things happened almost simultaneously. Zara's scanner beeped just as the sound of gunshots rang out.

Before Jay could stop her, Zara pushed the door of the room that it sounded like the shots had came from in.

"What in the world is she thinking? Zara!" If he let anything happen to his cousin, X would probably leave him in pieces. He started for the door himself, with Edie right behind, but before he took two steps, the Beruga was there, tackling him, and sending him flying into the room in a way that he hadn't exactly planned.

"Jay!" Edie raced in, barely missing knocking down the human who apparently lived there as he fled, dragging his oxygen tank with him at a pace that would seem to suggest he might not really need the thing. Jay was on the floor, pinned down by the beruga, X's cousin on the other side of the room, kneeling by an injured human.

"Zara, that thing poisonous?" Edie shouted. Not that a little poison was going to stop her from getting it off of her friend.

"No, just annoying." Zara called as she raised her head for a moment to glare at the weaselly looking human in a corner of the room. At least that other nice human had knocked his weapon away from him so he couldn't do anymore damage. "Shhhssh. You're going to be fine." She said to the injured human in what she hoped would be a reassuring tone. "I've fixed much worse than this before."

She looked up to glare at the weaselly human again just as the beruga caught the scent of the injured human's blood. It crouched on Jay's chest for a moment, before tensing up and springing, towards what it clearly saw as an easier meal.

Zara moved in front of the human, bracing herself as best as she could, so the beruga's weight wouldn't send her crashing onto her new patient as it hit her. She expected it to back off as soon as it realized she was an inedible Jeedangian, but apparently getting to a wounded meal was too tempting. The thing held on, trying to knock her out of the way. it's claws cutting into the human suit and raking her actual skin.

Mark Sheridan shook his head, almost unable to believe what he was seeing. He blinked hard, but the thing was still there, and Royce was running out the door, leaving them with it, and most likely leaving that boy to die. Perfect chance for him to get out of there but…. No. That girl didn't even know the kid and she was trying to protect him from what looked like a monster. Least he could do was try to help He grabbed it and jerked hard, pulling the thing back a few inches, and giving the girl a chance to pull free, and move into a better position to shield the young marshal.

"Edie, help him!" Jay yelled. He pulled his noisy cricket before realizing it would be too dangerous to take a shot with that, and going for an icer. "Can't get a clear shot!"

"It's too tight in here for a clear shot!" Edie grabbed the beruga too, and pulled hard, trying to drag it towards the window with the human's help. Maybe if they could get it there…. It twisted in their hands, though, before she could do anything to stop it, sinking it's fangs into her hand and making her loose her grip.

"Edie, you okay?" Jay shouted as the beruga shook off the human too, and jumped out the window, scrambling up the fire escape.

"Fine. Didn't even get through the human suit." Edie said. "Zara?"

"I'm fine. Go after it." Zara said as she switched the scanner from beruga to human, and ran it over the injured human, cringing inside as she saw the readings. She definitely didn't have enough supplies on hand for this. "Go! This is what I do, remember? I'll be fine."

"And you." She ordered the human who had tried to help them. "Go and find a needle at least four or five inches long, and the syringe to go with it." She might not have the equipment that she was used to, but surely she could improvise something.


	2. Chapter 2

Noah blinked, trying to focus through the pain in his chest. He couldn't have seen what he thought he had seen, had to be more than halfway on his way to death, but… Before he could think more of the apparently alien creature that he had seen, a wave of pain washed over him, and then all there was was fear. Where was Sam? Dying. He knew he was dying, and even though he wasn't a kid, all he wanted was for the man who might as well have been his father to be there with him.

"It's going to be fine, I promise." Zara told him as she used scissors to cut away his shirt, so she could get a better look at the wounds. One that had obviously hit the lung, and was still in there someplace, if the backspatter of blood was correctly place, and one in the center of the chest that was the real problem. "Okay, sweetie, this is going to feel a little strange, and it might make it feel a little odd to breathe, but I've got to get that sealed off, okay? It's going to be fine, I promise. This is nowhere near as bad as some of the other things that I've had to fix. There was this one time on Artuqua, although I imagine some would say that if you build your city in the middle of a flood plain so that half the place is underwater for months at a time, that you deserve what you get. Impalement in the middle of a flood, not a pretty thing." She was halfway tempted to use the small electrocautury that she had, to try to seal off the bleeding into the lung, but she wasn't sure if it had the power, or if the human would have the time it would take for her to do the work. Better to pack the wound off and seal it for the moment, and come back to it later, when she had some extra hands. She broke open one of the dressing packages, and pressed it against the wound, smiling slightly when it started to expand and adhere as a confused look washed over the human's face.

"I know. I know it feels funny, but trust me, it's good stuff. Not as good as an operating room would be now, I know, but it will do the job for the moment." Zara opened more of the dressings and pressed it against the second wound with one hand, while reaching for her communicator with the other. "My name's Zara. Don't worry. I'm not going to ask you to give me yours right now. I'm going to call my cousin and get some more help here, okay? The little human he works with is a doctor, and if the two of them aren't mating, they should get here quickly. Who knows they might get here quickly even if they are mating, seeing as it would be my cousin's first time and all. I'm sure he couldn't be very good at it yet. X, where are you?" she demanded as soon as X appeared on the communicator screen.

"Wishing I was back in the SUV." X grumbled. "Do all of these sirens and humans everywhere have something to do with the beruga?"

"No, they have something to do with something entirely different. The problem is that they're heading for exactly where the beruga is." Zara told him. "Which is where I need you to head right now. I've got a little problem on my hands. I need your partner here now."

"Why?"

"Injured human, some sort of projectile weapon." Zara said as she ran the scanner again. The dressing was doing what it was supposed to, sealing the lung, keeping air from getting in through the chest wall, or leaking out of the damaged tissue. The other wound, though, was the problem. The projectile had to have hit a major blood vessel or might have even clipped the heart itself. Either way, the blood was building up, keeping the heart from pumping right.

"What? What happened?" Elle demanded as she took the communicator away from her partner at the mention of an injury.

"This weaselly looking human did it. And X, if you happen to see that one, and I'm sure you'll recognize him, please feel free to repeat that little incident with Urexal and the window that got you suspension five. Looks like two shots. One hit the lung, doesn't look like it exited, one to the center of the chest. I've got Androcian cling dressings in place but it looks like there's some sort of tamponade. That's the word that you humans use, right? That's got to be relieved now."

"You know how to do that?" Elle asked.

"I have done that, once with two hearts. The only problem is the equipment to do it, and getting to surgery afterwards. Do you know how long that containment crew will be? We're definitely going to have to handle the transport." Zara said. As she patted the human with her free hand, while looking towards the door. Where in the world was that other human with that needle? She was sure that she could improvise something, but she needed the basics for improvising first.

"You've…. Oh, the ears." Elle said as it hit her that those big appendages attached to either side of the heads of X's kind obviously had a very practical purpose. Zara probably could hear well enough to make her more than capable of doing something that no human medic would risk in the field. "Where are you?"

"Retirement home, eighth floor. I don't see a room number, but it's the one beside the fire escape. I don't know how many humans you're going to have to neuralize to in here. Edie and Agent Jay are probably on the roof by now, trying to get the beruga."

"We'll find you." Elle told her. "Just do whatever you have to do until we get there."

"No one has to tell me that." Zara cut the communication as the human who tried to help came hurrying in.

"Wasn't entirely sure which one of these would work, so I just grabbed the whole lot." Sheridan said as he dropped the assortment of packaged needles by Zara. Every instinct told him to run, to get out of there while he had the chance, but still, what his mother had taught him, about helping someone in need, insisted that he stay and at least try to help. He frowned as he caught sight of the wounds, knowing what the location almost certainly meant. How in the world would this kid have a chance with shots like that?

"Thank you." Even with her range of vision limited by the mask of the human suit, Zara swiftly picked out the needle she needed and set it apart from the others, before reaching into her bag for a spray that she applied to Noah's chest. "Won't even feel cold, I promise, and it should numb things a little if the people who write the packaging aren't notorious liars."

"Need me to do anything?" Sheridan asked. What in the world was this girl going to do? He would have thought some sort of IV, but….

"Blankets, and make sure you aren't in my light." Zara told him. Before she could add anything else, there was a crashing sound at the door, and suddenly a man who looked exactly like Agent Kay was there, projectile weapon out.

Sam Gerard's eyes went wide as he caught sight of the blood, and then spotted Noah on the floor. "Get away from him!" He growled at Sheridan. "And you…."

"Oh, for goodness sakes." Zara jumped up, faster than you would expect, given her size, equal to that of the tall Edie, and before Sam knew what was going on, she had relieved him of his weapon. "There have been more than enough projectiles fired around here. I am trying to fix the damage the last idiot with one of these did, and I can tell you now, it isn't going to help my work any if I have to worry about another one of these going off."

If had been able, Noah would have grinned at someone talking to Sam like that, and actually taking his weapon away like he was a child not to be trusted with one. He was cold, though, and it was getting harder to breathe, pressure almost crushing in his chest, his vision starting to blur slightly. He blinked, trying to focus, trying to get Sam's attention. If he didn't listen to the girl, if he thought that Sheridan was responsible for this….

"Sussshh! It's okay. I'll have this fixed in just a few minutes." Zara reassured him before turning to the first human. "Can you go downstairs and find my cousin? He's about my height, same hair color, very grumpy, and hopefully shoving that weaselly looking human out of a window. He'll have a little blonde human with him. I need her up here now."

"Oh, for goodness sakes. Don't you go chasing after that poor man. He didn't do a thing wrong." Zara demanded when she saw Sam tensing, like he was about to take off for Sheridan as he hurried out. "Now get over here. Now that I think about it, I actually could use another pair of hands. This will be the first time I've done this with someone that's still conscious."

"What are you…." Sam knelt down by Noah, but his entire body was still tense, like he could spring up at any second to go chasing after Sheridan. Blood, so much blood, and Noah lying there, eyes so full of fright.

"Fixing this, at least until we can get him to an operating room. Don't worry. I'll have my cousin lock that Zealtor up somewhere first. I don't care if he's supposed to be some sort of genius. I've met his brother, and he's from a family of lunatics. Three days it took us to get the lights on on one floor after that brother of his got finished with our hospital. I've never seen anything like it in my life." Zara said as she got the needle out of it's packaging and lightly ran her fingers over Noah's chest for a moment to find the proper location before popping the cap off. "This might hurt a bit. I'm not sure how far down the spray goes but I promise that I'll be fast."

"What are you…." Sam's eyes went wide first with fear and then with anger when he realized that the girl was about to stick the needle that seemed to be gigantic into the middle of Noah's chest. "You can't do that! Get away from him!"

"I know what I'm doing. Believe me, I've done this before. It's got to be done now, though, to at least buy some time to get to surgery."

Something inside him screamed at him to stop her, before she could do what she intended with the needle, but…. How could he stop her, but at the same time, how could he just sit there and watch he do that to Noah? And would it even make a difference? Sam tensed again, ready to jump up and go after Sheridan, to do anything besides having to sit there and watch Noah dying, or worse, to have to take part in something that looked like torture. If that was the last thing that the boy that might as well have been his son saw on this earth….

"You, do not move." Zara ordered him. "Do not move an inch, and don't let him move either. I know what I'm doing, and it has to be done. If you don't like it, you can take it up later with your brother. Sweetie, you just keep your eyes on him for me, okay?" She added to Noah. "I really don't need to worry about him chasing that poor man that was just trying to help at the moment."

"Brother?" Sam looked up in puzzlement and completely missed it as Zara pushed the needle through skin.

"He's either your brother or your planet's developed a remarkable skill with cloning that I'd never heard about until now. I'm going with brother. It's okay, sweetie. There's definitely going to be some pressure at least, but you're going to feel a little better as soon as I get this taken care of." She told Noah as she worked the needle in. Not as much force needed as with an Anthrite, but still enough that it had to feel more than a little uncomfortable. "You just keep an eye on him for me, okay? I don't want him to escape. And I'm sure Agent Jay would be so disappointed to miss meeting his partner's brother. Not to mention my cousin. We having our family reunion here next month. That's actually why I was visiting. He has to deal with all of his relatives all the time, I'm sure that he will be thrilled to get to watch another agent coping with family for a change." There it was. She felt a slight change and pulled back on the plunger of the syringe, smiling slightly when bright red blood rushed in. Just what she expected.

"See? Not a problem. Fixed in a minute, and then help will be here. You just watch that one for me until then, okay? You're going to be fine, I promise."


	3. Chapter 3

"Sammy?" Cosmo called again as he hurried towards their leader, a frown on his face. What was Sam doing back there without Noah? If something had happened to that kid….

"Kay, who are they?" Aileen whispered. "And why is he calling you…"  
Kay was silent, honestly not sure of what to say. Aileen knew he had a brother. He couldn't have kept something like that from her, but the fact that said brother was his identical twin….  
Suddenly, before he could think more and figure out what to say, a cold feeling washed over him, and he staggered as he was hit with something he hadn't felt in almost thirty years.  
"Kay?" Aileen called his name as he went deathly pale.  
"I have to… Can you handle them?" Kay asked. He didn't know what had happened but he knew he had to get to his brother. He had felt something like that only once before, on the worst day of Sam's life. He had failed Sam then. He wasn't about to fail him now.  
"I'll handle them. Neuralyzed or…."  
"Taking them back with us."  
Aileen didn't even raise an eyebrow at that, only nodded in response. "I'll handle them. Now go."  
If not for his brother, Kay could have kissed her. He made himself settle for a nod, as he turned and headed back the way they had came. Now if he could just find Sam in time.

"It's okay, Sweetie. We're going to get this fixed up in just a few minutes, okay? I know it has to hurt." Zara said as she finished getting the dressings into place over the exit wound in Noah's back. "Really, I don't know what in the world is taking that cousin of mine so long. I asked him to shove that weaselly looking human out a window. I know that couldn't take this long. If I find out that he stopped somewhere to mate first… I don't care if he's been trying to find a female who would actually mate with him for years. I told him I needed that little human of his here now. Believe me, if he's mating, I'll be having more than words with him. It's going to be just fine, Sweetie. Even if that cousin of mine is doing something he shouldn't, I'm sure someone else will be here soon so we can get you fixed up."  
"I don't suppose I could get you to get me a blanket, could I?" Zara asked as she raised her head to look at Sam. He was dead white, his entire body tense, and his eyes…. Something was seriously wrong. Maybe she had been approaching him in the wrong way. Just because he looked like Agent Kay…. "A blanket, do you think you could get me one? My cousin will be here in just a few minutes, I promise. I don't think even the chance to mate would make him risk having me mad at him, so I'm sure he's on his way."

Blanket. Even though the girl was speaking perfect English, the words didn't seem to make sense to Sam. Noah, and the exit wound in his back…. Even if by some miracle he survived this, would the boy ever walk again? He felt his anger mounting along with his despair. Noah was young. How would he cope, if he ended up in a wheelchair for the rest of his life because Sam had failed to do his job? Why hadn't he listened to Catherine? He had been too personally involved in the situation. He should have pulled back but…. Sheridan. He could get Sheridan, could make him pay for this, the only thing he could do for Noah.

"Oh, for…. Don't you dare go chasing after that poor man. He didn't do a thing wrong, and I need him worrying about finding my cousin, not being chased at the moment." Zara said. Something was definitely wrong here. Why did this human seem to want to take off like that? Somehow, she couldn't see Agent Kay's brother being the squeamish sort. And he obviously cared about the poor injured human, so why in the world was he trying to run away? "This isn't that bad, I promise you. I've fixed much, much worse than this before. It's going to be fine." Now if she could just deal with this human. True, he wasn't hysterical like so many other family members she had been forced to cope with, but still, she could manage. Maybe she should treat it like a quieter form of hysteria? "Listen to me. This is going to be fine, I promise you. Right now I need you to get me a blanket or something. We need to try to make him comfortable until my cousin and his little human can get up here. Could you do that please?"  
"I'd do what she says." a voice called from the window leading to the fire escape.  
Sam's head shot up, and his eyes went wide as he saw the man coming into the room, his mirror image.  
"You're dead." he whispered as he stared in shock at his brother.  
"No. Zara, what happened?" Kay asked. "Slick after the beruga?"  
"They're on the roof, I think." Zara told him. "It was this weaselly looking human, two shots. I've got dressings on the wounds that look like they're controlling the bleeding for the moment, and I did what I could for the tamponade, but we need to get him moved back to headquarters for surgery now. Did you see that cousin of mine anywhere? If he's stopped to mate..."  
"For some reason Zed put U in charge of the containment crew. Might have delayed them a bit."  
"Agent U. X probably stopped to shove him out of a window too." Zara muttered. "Could someone please get me a blanket of something? I'm very sure the floor isn't the most comfortable place to be lying, but I thought I ought to at least make some effort to make it tolerable."

"You're dead." Sam said again as his brother moved around him, getting the requested blanket and taking it over to the girl kneeling by Noah. He blinked hard as his brother dropped down next to her. Dead, his brother was dead, but he was there, next to Noah, he was... "Please..." The fight was gone from Sam now, seeing his dead other half there with the boy he thought of as his kid. "Please, no. Don't take..." He felt his entire body starting to tremble. Not again. He couldn't do this again.

"Sam." Kay pulled himself to his feet, and caught his brother before Sam could run. "Listen to me." There would be time to explain everything later, but for the moment, he had to focus on getting Sam as close to calm as he could. "What happened before isn't going to happen again, I promise you. The kid's going to be fine. You aren't losing anyone else today. I won't let that happen."

Noah's own eyes had gone wide when he caught sight of the second man, Sam's double. Twins. Somehow, even with his head spinning from blood loss and pain, he put things together, what the girl had said about Sam having a brother, and then the way those two looked. Twins, identical twins. When Cosmo found out about this... And Catherine, did she know? Everyone knew the feelings that the head marshal had for Sam. If he had forgotten to mention an identical twin, Sam was going to be in that chicken suit until retirement. Before he could think about it more, though, a wave of pain washed over him, and all he could think of was Sam. It was stupid, he knew, he was an adult, but all he knew was that he was dying and he wanted his father there with him. He struggled, his damaged lung not letting him draw in nearly enough air, but somehow, he choked out Sam's name, the effort leaving him gasping for breath.

"Noah?" The sound of that boy calling his name with what seemed to be his last breath somehow got through to Sam, and before he even realized that he was moving, he was on the floor beside him. "Do something!" he demanded as he glared at the girl.

"What do you think I've been doing?" Zara said. "Noah, sweetie, I appreciate your getting his attention for me, but don't try to talk again, okay?" She glanced down at the scanner and frowned at the readings. The blood was starting to build up around the poor boy's heart again. Not good. They needed to get him moved and to an operating room now.  
"What about cryo?" Kay asked as he knelt down by his brother, in plain sight of the reading that seemed to be worrying X's cousin. He was good, Zara knew that. And he'd know what the reading meant, she'd stake her life on it.  
"Maybe, but I'd like to get that little human of my cousin's up here first to give another opinion. I don't want to risk him losing consciousness unless we have to." Zara replied. Really, she wasn't sure how in the world the poor boy was still awake to begin with, but the fact that he was, was a really good sign. Someone trying that hard to fight, said a whole lot.

Kay nodded as he thought. She was right, keeping the boy awake was important, but there had to be something. After a moment, he recalled something he had learned years ago. Not as good as the techniques his friend the alien polar bear had taught him, but it would take the pain away. That might do a bit, getting the kid's heart to slow down, and slow the blood loss. He reached out, gently touching two spots on Noah's forehead with one hand, while touching another spot on the side of his head with the other. "Here, Son. Ought to help the pain a little."

A little? Noah's eyes went wide as suddenly the crushing pain in his chest faded completely. How... Not that he would argue with having the pain gone, even if he was in a condition to argue.

"What did you do?" Sam whispered. He could tell that something had changed with Noah at his brother's touch, hopefully a change for the better.  
"Best thing I could think of, to buy us some more time." Kay said as he pulled out his communicator. "X, where are you?"

"Just hit the eighth floor. Remind me to have a talk with my mother about distracting Zed when he's sending out containment crews, because U does not have the situation down there contained." X grumbled as he followed his partner and the human his cousin had sent to find them down the hall. "And he let some human from the police department kill the power to the elevators, too!"  
Before X could complain anymore, they reached the room.  
"What happened?" Elle called as they came in. She stopped in shock for a moment, although she wasn't sure if the shock was from seeing the poor boy on the floor's injuries or from suddenly seeing two Kays. After a moment, she shook it off, though, and hurried over to join them. "X, I need..."  
"Stretcher? They've got to have something around here. If we have to wait for Agent U to get things under control enough for the containment crews to get up here, we'll be waiting forever." X said.  
"And see if there's a nurse's station, or a medical supply room somewhere too." Zara added as she looked at Elle. "I'd like to get at least one IV started, if we can at all."  
"I've dealt with you often enough. I know what you want by now." X grumbled. "Although how in the world we're going to get back downstairs, if U doesn't get those humans under control, so we can get the elevator back on..."

"I can do something." Sheridan spoke up suddenly. He ought to be running, he knew, but... The kid had ended up taking a shot that Royce had originally intended for him. He had some responsibility for the situation. Trying to help was the least that he could do. "Police locked it down with the fire override. Give me five minutes, and I can work around that."

Sam looked up in shock. His fugitive, right there; but why in the world was he offering to help them? Before he could consider it any more, though, Noah's hand was on his arm, tugging at him.  
"He's not going anywhere, Sweetie. You just stay still, okay?" Zara said with a glare at Sam that warned him of the dire things he would face, should he even try to leave.  
"Not going anywhere." Sam said with a nod. He reached out, and gently patted Noah's shoulder. "Not going anywhere, I promise." His fugitive was helping them, and Noah was risking himself trying to keep him from going after the guy, something was definitely going on, not that he was going to worry about that at the moment. Noah... If these were the last moments that he had with that boy... "Not going anywhere."

"Got the beruga." Jay called as he came in the window. "Edie's dragging it down. Didn't want to risk it melting on the roof. Woah!" he said as he caught sight of Sam and Kay together. "You want to tell me why in the world your whole family looks like you?"  
"Good genes."  
"Good genes don't do that. More like a whole lot of inbreeding. I've seen that cousin of yours. Elle, you guys need me to do anything?"

"Help X get that gurney over here, and then go and see if that elevator's working yet." Elle told him as she looked up to see her partner at the door, trying to move a gurney with supplies on it into the room.  
"We're going to have you all fixed up in just a few minutes, Sweetie." Zara told Noah as her cousin and Jay tugged, and finally got the gurney into the room. "Here, you just hold his hand for me, okay, so we can get an IV in. Just a few more minutes, I promise."  
"Don't let him move that arm at all. This might be a little tricky." Elle looked to make sure that Sam had Noah's hand before turning to the matter of getting the line in. With the amount of blood on the floor and wall, and what she was sure was building up in the lung and chest, she was honestly surprised that the veins in his arm weren't collapsed already. They were close enough, though, that it was going to be tricky, getting and keeping a line in, with the standard equipment that humans used.  
"Will this help?" Kay asked as he reached around Sam, to put pressure on Noah's arm.  
"Yeah, that's a little better." Elle told him as she pushed the needle in, and then worked the IV hookup in over it. "Just hold it for a minute until I tape it."  
"Elevator's working." Jay called as he came back in. "Don't know if we're going to have any trouble getting through the crowd out there. Who did Zed put in charge of the containment crew anyway?"  
"U." Kay said as between him, his brother, X and Zara they got Noah shifted over onto the gurney. He reached into his pocket, and pulled out the LTD keys, before tossing them to Jay. "Soon as the beruga's secured, get Edie and get back to headquarters."

Jay stared in shock at the keys and the group moved Noah out of the room and down the hall. Kay was actually letting him drive?  
"Edie, come on!" He called out of the window to the alien scrambling down the fire escape, the frozen beruga tossed over one shoulder. Kay willingly handing over the keys to his precious car? He had to get back to headquarters and find out what in the world was going on. If they had to, they would just stuff the beruga in the trunk or something.


	4. Chapter 4

"Just keep hold of his hand." Elle ordered Sam as the loaded the gurney into the back of one of the containment vehicles. The thing wasn't really set up for a medical emergency, but she could make it do, at least if they could get back to headquarters fast. There was no way that boy had the time it would take for people with more supplies to get there. "Zara, can you..."

"I've had to improvise IV stands in way worse places than this. I've got it." Zara told her as she attached the bag of fluids to a hook in the vehicle ceiling.

"Good." Elle said as she ran the scanner again and frowned. That tamponade was definitely getting worse. "Do you think you can decompress that again? If we're going to have to do it, I'd rather try without having to deal with motion on top of everything else."

"Oh, the motion isn't a problem. There was one time on Tampus IX, where everyone lives on these giant floating barge like things on the ocean. I don't think the motion of a vehicle can compare to that place. Now, the sounds of an entire class of novice nurses getting seasick, that was a little distracting. I really ought to have a talk with the instructors at the hospital about finding a bit easier places for classes' first time out in the field. I really don't think they can learn properly when they're trying to keep vital organs from coming up. That's it, sweetie. You're doing just fine." Zara said as she worked the needle into place again. "You just hold on to his hand, and I'll be done in just a minute, I promise. You're going to be fine."

Sam cringed as he saw the girl pushing the needle into Noah's chest again. Rationally, he knew that she wasn't torturing him, that she was trying to save his life, but still, seeing that... He had to force himself not to look, to focus instead on Noah's face, and on trying to do what little he could to comfort the boy. "You just hold on for me, Son. You're going to be fine, I promise you." How in the world could Noah be fine, though, with all of the blood, way too much blood, that he had already lost? He didn't know how in the world the kid was still conscious. When Catherine... No, he blinked hard, forcing that away. History wasn't repeating itself. It wasn't. He hadn't been there, that time. He was here now, and somehow that had to make a difference. He couldn't lose another kid. "Can we get moving?"

"We are. I'm just making sure that things are ready for us when we get to headquarters." Elle said as she looked up from her communicator. "Zealtor? I need you to have a medical team waiting for us down in the garage. We're bringing in a human guest with injuries."

"You're letting him set things up? Just don't let him turn on any electricity. We made that mistake with his brother at my hospital. Three days the fourth floor was without lights. I've never seen so many broken bones and concussions in my life. You would think those people would think to bring flashlights in. There, sweetie. All better." Zara said as she patted Noah's shoulder after withdrawing the needle. Optimally, she knew, it would be better to put a drain in, rather than having to repeatedly do the sticks, but without something more secure than medical tape, she didn't want to take the risk.

"Injuries? What kind of injuries, Agent Elle?" Zealtor asked.

"Two gunshots to the chest, hemothorax and pneumothorax, That bullet's still in there somewhere. Then a cardiac tamponade from the second shot that went straight through. That one might have clipped the heart. We've already had to pull blood off twice." Elle looked down at the readings on the scanner again. "Bloodtype's AB negative. Can you have all that we have of that on hand when we get down to the garage?"

Sam looked up as he heard the bloodtype mentioned. AB negative, the same type as Catherine. Wasn't anything going to go their way? It was a rare type, he knew, the doctor had told him that in the hospital after... Had even hinted that difficulties with getting the specific blood type might have been one reason... No, he wasn't letting himself think that, though. They said they had blood on hand, and if they needed more... Where was Cosmo? Cath was either back at the hotel, or at the New York office. It wouldn't be hard to find her. "If he needs more, I know someone with the same type." And Cath would be willing to donate, he was sure, although she would probably have words with him later about offering up her blood without consulting her first.

"Is that Agent Kay?" Zealtor asked. But why would Agent Kay think that they would need actual blood donors?

"No, that's Agent Kay's brother, so I suggest you don't take into your head the notion to do some of the things that you've done before with Agent Jay. I don't think that will work out so well this time." Zara said. "Don't worry about the blood. We can manage that no problem." She reassured Sam. "As many types as there are in the universe, we've got dealing with rare things covered."

In the universe? Before Sam could say anything, though, the door of the vehicle opened again, and his brother climbed in.

"Slick and Edie are bringing in the beruga." Kay told Zed. "And I need a couple of rooms set up for some guests. Might want to keep the ones that Aileen's got on her hands separate from the one that X is handling."

"Guests?" Zed asked.

"More like family."

"Family?" Zed repeated just as the door of his office came open, and X's mother Zoe came bustling in.

"Is that that nice Agent Kay?" Zoe called. "Tell him that I just saw his brother on the local news. Now, why didn't he say he was having family in town too? Is that dear being sneaky and planning a wedding to that sweet girl of his without saying a thing, now?"

"Brother? Kay, does she mean..."

"Sam, and his entire team, and we have an injury, so if someone could keep an eye on Zealtor..." He had trusted the alien scientist with Jay, and he knew Zealtor was a genius, but still, as tense as Sam was, he didn't want to think of how his brother would react if he was confronted with Zealtor's almost insanely cheery personality. That was an interstellar incident just waiting to happen.

"I'll take care of it." Zed said, taking note of the expression on Kay's face, Zed knew it had to be serious. "Just get them back here. I'll make sure that Zealtor has everything ready, and that he isn't his normal self."

"Zealtor's getting the blood stock and an operating room ready." Elle said as she closed her communicator.

"And Zed's going to keep an eye on Zealtor." Kay said as he pounded on the front panel to let the driver know they were ready to move.

"Girl?" Sam asked as he looked at his brother in confusion.

"I'll tell you about her later." Kay said. "And I'm sure that Marshal Renfro's going to have a few things to say as well." Aileen had got Sam's team to the containment vehicles just in time for them to see the stretcher being loaded, and the little alien agent had ended up having to pick up Sam's second in command by the collar to get him in another containment vehicle. "Speaking of ladies, though, where's that little one of yours?"

Noah struggled, trying focus, as he heard what Sam's brother was saying. Little... He had to be talking about Marshal Walsh. Was he about to hear gossip that Cosmo would kill for? If it just wasn't so hard to breathe, like he was trapped underwater...

"Here, son. Slow breaths." Kay said as he reached around his brother to touch another couple of places on the side of Noah's head and behind the ear. "Slow breaths, and keep your eyes on Sam. He ever say anything about how he met that little boss of yours?" He moved his fingers as he talked, touching and pressing various spots. He couldn't manage a full trance, and Zara was right that they needed to keep the kid awake, but a light one might help buy them a little time. "Got some real good pictures of the two of them kissing, and forgetting completely about a fugitive."

"There aren't any pictures of that!"

"You mean there aren't any pictures that you know of. I've got some really nice pictures of you over the years, little brother." Kay told him. "Not that I think anything's really going to top that fall you took into the sewage treatment pond, but have you ever told the kid the time that you ended up chasing that fugitive, and had to get Cousin LT to help? Was there a body of water that you didn't manage to fall in, during that? Surprised you ever got dry." Yeah, the boy's breathing was definitely getting slower, and a whole lot easier. Kay moved his fingers just a bit more. This was going to work.

"It wasn't that bad." Sam muttered, even though by the time he was through with that chase, he had been chaffed in places where he didn't know he had places from the wet clothes. He had an idea of what his brother was doing, though, even though he didn't entirely understand what the touching was about. The talking was giving Noah something to focus on, and was hopefully keeping him awake. If it would help that boy, Sam was willing to do anything, no matter how potentially embarrassing. "And how do you know about the sewage treatment pond, anyway?"

"I've got pictures of the sewage treatment pond. You'd think after that mess with Kimble, you would have learned to be a bit more careful in front of open ended pipes, wouldn't you? How many shots did you end up having to have, now?"

"I'm not sure all of those were strictly for medical reasons." He didn't think he had ever seen Cath with quite that expression before, when they had come dragging in to the office, himself, Cosmo and Bobby dripping sewage everywhere.

"Yeah, Aileen's definitely going to like meeting your Catherine. Just a few more minutes, Son, and we're going to get you fixed up. He ever tell you about how when he went to ask that lady to marry him that he got so nervous he dropped the ring down the sink? You ever get your damage deposit back, after the flood?"

Sam wasn't sure how long it actually was before the vehicle pulled to a stop. With his brother repeating every embarrassing incident in his past, it probably seemed a whole lot longer than it was. But Noah was still conscious, when the doors opened, and they got the stretcher out, and if the kid actually had the strength Sam knew he would be grinning like crazy over what he had heard. That had to be a good sign. Sam silently sent up a prayer. Please let it be a good sign. Losing another kid, he couldn't do it again.

Before Sam had time to think about it, though, the oddest thing he had ever seen, even odder than the last suit Cosmo had bought, came bustling over.

"Oh, my. What do we have here, Agent Elle?" Zealtor asked as he hurried over with the medical team, scanner out. "My, that's not good at all. Maybe if I..."

Sam's eyes went wide as the blue alien pulled some piece of equipment out of his pocket that looked like the stuff that a torture nightmare was made of, and pointed it in Noah's direction. He started to try to move, to defend the boy, but the room was suddenly spinning, black spots dancing in front of his eyes as the floor came rushing up to meet him.

"It's okay, sweetie. It's just a blood analyzer. It doesn't hurt at all. I think he just makes them look alarming to frighten people into good health. That or he escaped from the mental ward, which I would say was highly likely, especially if his brother dropped by and did a number on their electricity too." Zara told Noah as she patted his shoulder. "Agent Kay, do you need..."

"I'll take him down to my room." Kay said as he hoisted Sam up. "Zed..."

"Take care of your brother. I'll deal with the rest of them." Zed reassured Kay as another containment vehicle and the SUV pulled into the garage.

"I'd like to welcome all of you to MIB." he said as the back doors of the containment vehicle opened, and X got out of the SUV, with Sheridan slowly following him, not entirely sure he wanted to risk being seen by Sam's team. "X, guest room, level six, Aileen if you could escort our other visitors to the meeting room on level five, I'll be around to talk to them, as soon as I find out what's going on myself." Zed issued his orders before turning to follow the gurney moving Noah down to the medical lab. As soon as Kay got his brother settled, he was sure that would be were he would head


	5. Chapter 5

Kay closed and locked the door to his quarters, leaving his brother to what he hoped would be a dreamless sleep, the soft sounds of Elvis, and a note on the bedside table hopefully offering some reassurance for him, if he woke up. "Here." He said as he spotted Agent V from wardrobe coming down the hall. He thrust Sam's clothes, stained with Noah's blood, into her hands. "See if you can get them clean. If not, burn them." Even if she could get the clothes clean, he wasn't sure that Sam would actually be willing to wear them again. Not that he didn't have suits to spare if his brother needed them. And if he actually had a job after what he had just brought into the MIB.

Zed was waiting for him when he reached the medical lab, with Zoe beside him.

"How's your poor brother?" Zoe asked before Zed could say anything. "Zara's helping that nice Agent Elle get that poor boy all fixed up or I would have had her help you with him. Poor dear. He seemed very upset."

"He is. And he's sleeping, at least I hope he's sleeping. Anyway, he's locked in my quarters so he ought to be fine for awhile. Are they already..."

"Took him right back for surgery." Zed told him. "Kay, what happened? What's your brother doing here?"

"Honestly, I'm not entirely sure. Jay, Edie or Zara might know more about what happened in the retirement home. They were there. Sounded like from what Zara said that she got a decent look at the shooter. After you called us, we split up to look for the beruga." Kay said as they took seats in the makeshift waiting area that someone had finally got around to installing after tripping over one too many agents pacing while waiting for news on a partner or friend. "Aileen and I headed for this railroad track down the block. Thought it would be a prime target if the thing was still on an iron diet. When we cleared it, we moved on to the cemetery behind it. Thought the gates, or some of the tombstone decoration might have attracted it. We ran into Sam's team and then..." He closed his eyes for a moment, reliving the terror that had washed over him from his brother. If anything happened to that kid... "Elle give you any idea how long it would be before she'll know something?" He shook his head slightly, trying to force away the panic that was washing over him. This would be fine, he knew. He had seen worse, had experienced worse a time or two. He knew it was fixable. 'Sam, would you...'

"I escorted those three humans to the meeting room." Aileen called as she came in. "Although... Kay, are you absolutely sure that the one who's dressed so... unusually is actually a human? I don't mean to question you, but..."

"He's human, although Sam's probably going to want DNA proof of that." Kay said before wincing in pain. Flashbacks, of what had happened to Catherine and the baby hitting him full force. Sam had to be in the middle of a serious nightmare.

"Kay?" Aileen called his name as she came over.

"I... Give me a minute." He couldn't do this, not here. Kay stood and somehow made himself move down the hallway, into one of the treatment rooms. He closed his eyes as he leaned back against the wall. Thirty years he had blocked his brother, walls that had only been knocked down once, but now they might as well have never existed. "Sam." He whispered his name as he closed his eyes, trying to get the walls back up, trying to get control again.

"Kay?" Aileen whispered as she came in. "What's going on?" She hadn't been sure about following him, but at the same time, she knew she couldn't just leave him in the pain he was in, without trying to do something.

"Sam." Kay said after a moment. "He... We always had a link, knew what the other one was feeling, almost knew what the other one was thinking. When I joined the MIB, though..." Joined? Not like he had really had a choice. He'd been basically drafted. Out of all that he had given up, the link with his twin had been one of the worst things to lose. "Link was a liability. If someone got to me, they could have got to Sam, too. For over thirty years, I've been able to block him, except once."

"What happened?" Aileen helped Kay down onto the floor and sat beside him, leaning on his shoulder.

"He was engaged, they were having a baby. Something went wrong. The baby died, his Catherine almost died too." Kay closed his eyes as the fear from his brother washed over him, fear for the boy Elle and Zara were currently trying to save, and the remembered fear and then grief for the son his brother had lost. "Blocking him then was the hardest thing I had ever done." Was something Kay hadn't wanted to do. He had gone to Zed, had actually begged to be allowed to bend the rules, to be allowed to see his brother, but... "Now, I can't..."

"Maybe blocking him isn't what you need to do." Aileen suggested. "Your brother's frightened, right? He thinks he's about to lose a child for the second time. Maybe you need to open up to him, to let him in and show him that this is going to be fine. Kay, you know that poor boy will be alright. You've seen things worse than that be fixed without a problem. I've seen worse things. Let's show your brother that. I'm here. Let me help both of you."

Kay didn't say anything, just reached out, and took Aileen's hand, closing his eyes as he felt her tendrils intwining with his fingers. With a thought, he swept the remains of the walls that had kept his twin out away. 'Okay, Sam, let's see if you'll listen when I show you that boy of yours is going to be fine.'

"Where did Little Ears get off to?" X called as he came into the medical lab.

"She's fixing that poor boy up." Zoe said with a pointed look at her son. "Now, did you get that human settled in? With food? And a drink?"

"The human's settled in with coffee. The worms are fixing up food to take around. Hope everyone likes coffee a whole lot. And you didn't ask Aileen if she had offered refreshments to the humans she got stuck with, did you?"

"Aileen has manners. Really, I don't know where I went wrong with you, sometimes." Zoe said before turning to Zed. "Do you think someone should check on poor Agent Kay?"

"Better give it some time. Kay and his brother are close, at least they were before Kay joined the MIB." Before Kay joined the MIB. They probably would be still, if he had listened to Kay, almost thirty years ago, had been willing to bend the rules instead of being so focused on holding the agency together in the wake of what Alpha had done. And Kay had been the one who had suffered for it. With a shake of his head, Zed forced his thoughts back to the present. "You said you saw something on TV about Kay's brother?" he asked Zoe.

Zoe nodded. "There was something, about him looking for some sort of criminal. Honestly, I thought it might be one of your cover stories, so that he could visit with his brother. Although, now that I think about it, the person he was supposed to be looking for did resemble that young man that I hope my son showed good manners to."

"That guy's supposed to be a criminal? If he is, I want to know how in the world Kay's brother got a better class of criminal." X grumbled. "That one figured out how to turn on the elevators again, after U let the police shut them down, and he helped us get that kid out of there. That doesn't scream criminal to me."

"Zed, I don't think he is." Jay said as he came in, with Edie behind him.

"Junior? Report on what happened out there?" Zed said.

"What happened? We were looking for the beruga. Edie was with me, and Zara tagged along. She said she had experience with them, so I figured it was okay. We tracked it to the nursing home, and found out that it had switched to carbon. I called Kay to let him know what was happening, and then we went after it. Finally ran into the thing on the eighth floor, just as that kid got shot. Zed, there's no way that guy could be the shooter. The beruga tackled me, and then it tried to go after the kid. Guess it thought wounded prey would be easier. Zara tried to block it, but it was pretty determined to make a meal of that boy. That guy grabbed the beruga, pulled it away."

Edie nodded. "Tried to help me get it over to the window so Jay would have a clear shot. Might have worked if it hadn't tried to take a bite out of my hand. A human, grabbing a beruga, though?"

"Zed, that just doesn't scream criminal to me." Jay said. "And he stayed with Zara, and helped her take care of that kid. There was this other guy, though, that was there when the beruga showed up, and took off. Kind of weaselly looking. That one, now, I would put money on him being up to something."

"Wouldn't be the first time that Sam's ended up going after the wrong person." Zed said. They could work that out later, though, after the surgery was over, and Zara had a chance to tell them what she had seen. "Beruga secure?"

"Down in a cell. So, where's Kay?" Jay asked.

"With Aileen." Zed lowered his head, debating how much he should say. Probably, he ought to leave this up to Kay. It was his story to tell, after all, but in the condition that he was in... And Jay deserved to know what was going on with his partner.

"This doesn't go outside this room, at least not without Kay's permission, but... Sam, Kay's brother, they were separated when Kay joined the MIB, obviously. Twins, they always had a link, until Kay had to break it. Anyway, almost thirty years ago, Sam was involved with this little girl, was getting ready to marry her. They had a baby on the way. Something happened, though, the baby died, and the girl Sam was going to marry almost did too." Zed paused for a moment, looking back over the years. "Catherine, I think that was her name. Anyway, Kay had been blocking his brother, but when that baby died, he got hit full force. Came to me, almost begging to bend the rules, to go to his brother to try to help. It was right after Alpha turned. I made a mistake. Told him no." Easy, it would have been so easy for him to have looked the other way, but...

"You made a mistake. You know you did." Zoe said as she reached out and patted Zed's arm. "And you're sorry for it. Now you just need to make amends."

"Not sure how to make amends. And if that kid doesn't make it..." Could Kay handle having to feel his brother suffering through a second loss? What in the world was taking Elle so long, to get out there with good news


	6. Chapter 6

"Kay, you okay?" Zed asked when Kay and Aileen finally rejoined them, nearly an hour later.

"For now. We're going to have to do something about Sam, getting some sort of training for him, though." Kay said, letting Zed know without coming out and saying it, that he wasn't going to do what he did before, cutting the link with his twin again. "Elle been out yet?"

"Not yet. I'm sure she will be soon, though. Even just replacing the blood that kid lost, you know that takes awhile."

Kay did know it, but it didn't mean he had to like the time it was taking. The sooner he had good news to pass along to his brother the better. Even with Aileen's help, it had taken an impossibly long time to get Sam halfway calm, using their connection. Honestly, he wasn't sure if his brother had actually finally accepted what he was trying to show him, that the kid was going to be fine, or if the stress had finally gotten to be too much, and he had completely blacked out. Sam was out like a light, though, for whatever reason, which was about the only decent thing he could see at the moment. "Beruga secure?"

"Jay and Edie handled it. Kay, is there anything else that you can tell me about what happened up there?" Zed asked.

"Not much." Kay said. "Zara definitely knows more. She said the shooter was this weaselly looking human, whoever that is."

"Weaselly looking, see, I told you it was that one, not the other one, no matter what the news said about him being some sort of a fugitive." Jay said.

"Not like it's the first time something like that's happened." Kay muttered. Really, what were they doing, over in Illinois, just grabbing the first person they found and accusing them of a crime, figuring his little brother could sort the situation out later if they had made a mistake? "Got him somewhere where Sam's team isn't going to run into him, until I can have a talk with my brother?"

"Guest quarters, and speaking of your brother's team..." Zed started to say.

"Yeah, Slick, you might want to avoid Marshal Renfro. Went to clown college for a semester. Wouldn't want your clown issue to be a problem." Kay said.

"Earth clowns dress like that?" Aileen asked.

"No, but people who got kicked out of clown collage for being too strange do. Elle?" Kay jumped to his feet as he spotted the doctor coming down the hall, still in her scrubs jacket, with Zara right behind her, fastening the ribbons she wore looped around her ears as she walked.

"He's fine." Elle said before Kay could ask. "When the bullet that hit the lung exited, it pretty much splintered a rib. I wanted to make sure we had all of the fragments so we have to potentially go back in later."

Kay nodded. "So, what's the other damage?"

"Pneumothorax, hemothorax, second bullet that clipped the heart and was causing the tamponade. He ended up losing thirty-five, forty percent blood volume total. Shattered posterior rib, a couple of fractures in the front. We got those put back together, got the damage fixed. We're still replacing the blood. He's going to need bed rest for awhile. That level of trauma, even with MIB tech, it's going to take some time for him to get his strength back, but he's going to be fine. Won't even have scars."

Kay nodded, and closed his eyes for a moment, sending a message to his brother that he hoped that Sam would pick up, no matter how deeply unconscious he was, that his boy was going to be fine. "Where is he?" Until his brother woke up, and could get down there, the kid was going to have someone with him.

"They're moving him to room three. I want to keep an eye on him for awhile, at least until the blood finishes running, and I'm sure about that rib. We might be able to get him moved to guest quarters to finis"h recovering in a day or so." Elle said. She paused, debating how to bring up the other issue they had ran into before deciding to just go with the direct approach. "Kay, there's something you need to know."

"What?" Kay felt a bit of fear, left over from his brother's earlier panic, but he was able to easily force it away this time. Elle said the kid was going to be fine. Whatever she had to tell him couldn't be serious.

"When we were cloning the red blood cells for transfusing, the system got a DNA match." Elle said. "A father-son match. For you."

"Kay? Is there something you need to tell me?" Aileen said, half joking.

"Not father-son, uncle-nephew." Kay whispered, going deathly pale for a moment before anger washed over him. "Zed..."

"He's your brother's son? Do you mean the one who... How's that possible?" Zed asked.

"He's adopted, has the same birthdate as their baby." Kay said as he struggled to keep from hitting something. "Catherine's family hated him, didn't think he was good enough for her. Take the baby away, they probably thought there was no reason for them to stay together. Zed..."

"I'll handle it." Zed said as he pulled out his communicator. "U, need you in research now. I want all the records you can find on a Noah Newman and..."

"Patrick Samuel Gerard and Catherine Walsh." Kay give him the additional names.

"Right. Did you hear that, Agent U? I want everything you can find, medical records, legal records, I want it all. Whatever agents you need, get them on it now!" He had made a mistake before, keeping Kay from his brother. Maybe if he had let him go, he would have made a difference. Zed couldn't change the past, but he could do something now, to uncover the truth. "Pull agents from the field or the incoming passengers if you have to, but I want those records pronto! Kay?"

"I'll be with him." Kay said, even though he felt like going out to tear apart something. Sam's son, and his brother had lost so much time with him, had lost time with Catherine due to what happened. When he found out how her family had stolen that baby... "I'll be with him."

"And I'll be with you." Aileen said as she took his arm, and steered him down the hall to Noah's room.

Kay let out a sigh as he stepped in and looked over the boy. Readings on the monitors he was attached to were strong and steady, and he was breathing well on his own, the only visible signs of injury a cartoon bandaid on his chest, and the lingering pallor from the blood loss. "Son, when my brother wakes up..." Kay said as he moved over to the bed and settled into a chair, with Aileen pulling up another chair to join him. "Listen, I know you didn't do so well in the parent department before, but when you wake up, you're going to have a mother and father that love you right here, I promise, so you just get well for them.


	7. Chapter 7

The first thing that Sam thought when his eyes blinked open was that it had been a dream, seeing Noah shot, seeing his dead brother, and most certainly seeing the strange blue alien, although he had to admit, aliens being real would explain a whole lot, at least about Cosmo. Where was he, if he had been dreaming, though? It wasn't the hotel, wasn't his place or Catherine's. He slowly sat up, trying to get oriented. There was music playing softly, on the stereo, something by Elvis, he thought. Elvis, that reminded him of Kevin and... Before Sam could think further, though, his eyes fell on something on the bedside table. A picture, his brother, but not the boy that Sam had known, but the man he had thought his brother had never had the chance to become. Then there was the woman standing beside him. Pretty, reminded him a bit of Cath, probably due to the height, but... She looked basically human, unlike the alien Sam had hoped he had dreamed, but her skin was a light blue-gray color.

"Kevin, what in the world have you got yourself into?" Sam murmured as he pulled himself to his feet, frowning when he realized that he had been stripped to undershirt and boxers. What in the world happened to his clothes? And his gun? The aliens were real. His brother was real. Sam had a bad feeling that meant that Noah being shot was real too. Panic washed over him, as he remembered Noah's injuries and the blood, too much blood. He dropped back onto the bed, closing his eyes and burying his head in his hands for a moment. Another son, he was going to lose another son, and once more there was nothing that he could do about it.

No, there was something, though. He could be there for that boy, could make sure that Noah didn't die alone like Patrick had. Sam finally noticed the note his brother had left, telling him to help himself to clothes. He pulled himself to his feet, and headed for the closet to find something. He had to get out of there and to Noah, even if he only got there in time to say goodbye.

"Hey, Kay, how's your nephew?" Jay said as he poked his head into Noah's room, grinning slightly when he saw that Aileen was leaning against Kay's shoulder, tendrils intertwined with his fingers. Edie was going to love that, when he got a chance to tell her. "You need any tips on being an uncle, you know I've got you covered."

"Appreciate the thought, Slick. They find those records yet?"

"Oh, yeah. Guess U's good for something after all, because he got hold of those records, no problem." Jay told his partner. "Zed sent out a team to collect some of the hospital records that are warehoused, and the full adoption record from the agency, but with the partials from the hospital, and the court records... He's definitely your brother's kid, even if we didn't already have DNA to prove it. Zed's going over the legal stuff, and Elle and Zara divided up the medicals. Not sure what was in there, but Zara was saying, evil, evil and even Zealtor's brother would know better than to do whatever was in those records. Seeing how she feels about that family, I think it's saying something."

"Yeah, Zara or Elle free to come down here with an update?" He probably ought to go and wake Sam up, but his brother needed the rest. Kay was sure that he wouldn't be getting any, once he got the news that Noah was his son, that someone had snatched that baby away, and had they done something to Catherine as well, something that had caused the complications that had nearly killed her? He couldn't see another explanation, with how young and healthy she had been at the time. Sam was going to... He would have to check with Zed, see about how to go about arranging to deport humans. He knew a few backwater worlds that would offer more than appropriate punishments.

Wait. Sam. He had noticed the wrappings around his brother's chest when he was getting him into bed. "Before they come down here, can you have one of them go by my room? Need someone to take a look at my brother." Sam's cooperation with medical personnel had never been the greatest, even with their kids. He had actually been a bit glad when Richard Kimble had been cleared of murder, so at least one doctor his brother might listen to would be around. When Sam found out about Noah, though, and if her family had done something that nearly killed Catherine, at the same time that they took their baby... Better get someone to take a look while Sam was still asleep. Might be safer. "Probably ought to ask Zara." At least she would be big enough to deal with Sam if he decided to pitch a fit.

"Yeah, I think she was heading that way anyway, to help Zoe with something in X's room. I'll call her and get her to drop by on her way back." Jay said before heading out again.

"Kay, could I ask if there's a little... what do you humans call it, sibling rivalry, with your brother?" Aileen asked as soon as Jay was gone.

"What makes you think that?"

"You just turned Zara and I'm sure Zoe loose on him." Not that the two weren't perfectly nice, And Zoe... Well, Kay actually relaxed with her a bit, and Aileen knew how few beings who were able to make him do that. Still, and then there was the fact that his brother didn't know everything about aliens yet.

"They'll manage." Kay's lips turned up slightly as he pictured his brother, being confronted with the pair, and especially Zoe's tendency to mother anyone she could get her hands on. "Might do Sam some good, to have someone who isn't going to let him be the big dog for a change."

"I hope whatever idiot who was impersonating a doctor and did this was demoted to janitor." Zara grumbled as she looked down at the half of the medical records she was carrying, while following her aunt down the hallway towards Agent Kay's room. When she had first started reading the files she had been shocked at what had been done to that poor woman, but now she was so far beyond shocked she couldn't even put words to her feelings. How could a doctor, nurses, who knows how many other medical personal, people who were supposed to help, do something like that?

"It's that bad?" Zoe asked.

"More than bad. If that poor woman really is as small as this says..." Zara shook her head as she thought about it. How those idiots hadn't managed to kill the poor thing or end up causing brain damage... "I would suggest checking that Zealtor's family tree for a relative that might have dropped by Earth back then, but not even that family would be crazy enough to do this, and I'm pretty sure that the majority of them belong in asylums. Is that Agent U?"

"Yes. Young man, what in the world do you think you're doing?" Zoe demanded as they turned a corner, and spotted the agent in question, right outside Kay's door, making an attempt to force Sam back inside that looked like it was going to end with him getting decked.

"I didn't mean to let him out!" U exclaimed. This was just perfect. Not only had he let the brother of MIB's top agent escape, but he had managed to do it in front of X's mother, the alien pretty much everyone knew was interested in Zed, a feeling that seemed to be mutual. Could he be demoted to a lower position than playing Oxy the Centipede? "I thought I heard my name being called, so I opened the door and... I wasn't going to let him loose in headquarters, I swear!"

"I'm sure you wouldn't, dear. Now why don't you run along?" Zoe said as she patted U on the shoulder. "I'm sure that Zed needs your help with that research he had you handling. He was very pleased with what you were able to find so far, and so quickly too."

"Zed was happy about it?" U asked, sounding as if he didn't believe he might have done something right for a change.

"Oh, course, dear. Why don't you run along and talk to him? I'm sure there's something else that he could use your help with. Some of the other agents have to be back with the rest of the records by now, and I'm sure that they'll need your help putting everything in order, so those horrible, horrible people can be punished appropriately." Zoe said.

"If Zed, needs me... But..." U looked suspiciously at Sam. He couldn't just leave Agent Kay's brother running loose.

"We'll deal with him." Zara said as she came over and joined her aunt. "Believe me, he won't get away." She ran her eyes over Sam, frowning as she noticed the slight hitch as he breathed. Had that been there before, and she had missed it due to having to tend that poor boy? "What did you do to your ribs?"

"Well, if you're sure." And the way Zara was looking at him, it didn't look like Agent Kay's brother was going to get away from her. With a nod, U turned and headed down the hallway as fast as he could. Better to leave things to the ladies before he made a mistake and messed up again.

"Well? What did you do?" Zara asked Sam again. "Broken?"

"They're just cracked." Sam said. It was the girl who had tended to Noah at the nursing home. There was no way he could fail to recognize that voice or the height but... An alien. He had let an alien... His brother trusted aliens, he tried to remind himself. From the look his brother was giving that blue skinned girl in the photo in his room, he wouldn't be surprised if his brother was sleeping with an alien. And the girl had seemed to know what she was doing when she had tended to Noah but still... No, he could worry about the entire alien issue later. Right now, the only thing he needed to worry about was finding that boy. What if he was already too late?

"And where do you think you're going?" Zara demanded as Sam tried to get around her. She reached out and caught hold of him. Cracked ribs indeed. More likely a complete fracture, although she wouldn't be surprised to find that they had just started out cracked. "And I don't suppose a doctor actually told you that it would be a wonderful idea to run around chasing poor innocent people with ribs like that? Because I would like to know if any of that Zealtor's relatives are in the area."

"Young man, are you wanting to worry your brother?" Zoe asked. "I'm sure he would be very upset if you went wandering around the building on your own. Where in the world did you think you were going? And really, tricking Agent U into letting you out like that."

Normally Sam would argue, but now, with Noah somewhere, likely on his deathbed... "Noah, all I want is..."

"Oh, that poor dear? Now don't you worry about him." Zoe said as she looked closely at Sam. Agent Kay said his brother didn't know that poor boy was his son, but looking at the expression on Sam's face, Zoe wasn't so sure. He looked for all the world like a frantic father to her. "He's fast asleep, and your brother's right there keeping an eye on him. I'm sure he would have sent someone to get you in just a little bit, if you would have been patient. He was very worried about you. Such a sweet boy."

"Noah's..." Sam wanted to believe what he was being told, that Noah was fine, but the sight of him, on the floor, and all of that blood... How in the world could he be fine with an injury like that?

"I said I had fixed much worse than that, before." Zara said as she slowly moved around Sam, looking for other signs of injury as she ran her scanner in his direction. "Hemothorax, pneumothorax, tamponade. It actually took longer to get that rib the bullet shattered back together than it did to fix the rest. That little human of my cousin's wants to keep him in the medical lab for awhile, to make sure that we didn't miss anything with the rib, but he's going to be fine. Which is more than I can say for you, running around like that. I'm assuming you saw a doctor about those ribs. Did you make sure it was a sane doctor? One not related to Zealtor?" She frowned at the readings on the scanner. There was the beginning of an infection on the side with the damaged ribs, and something on the other side as well. "What in the world did you do?"

"I'm fine. Noah, where..."

"No, you aren't fine, and if you aren't careful, you're going to end up a whole lot more than not fine." Zara told him.

"Dear, he's just worried about that boy of his." Zoe said. "You could finish looking at him down in the medical lab, couldn't you? I'm sure that he would be perfectly cooperative as long as he got to see that poor boy, now wouldn't you, sweetie?"

"Lab probably would be the best." Zara said with a sigh. And the man did look frantic, still. That couldn't be good for him. Better to do whatever was necessary to calm him down. "But I expect cooperation!"

"Oh, I'm sure he'll do whatever you say, now won't you?" Zoe said as she took Sam's arm. "And your brother will be so happy to see you. And that poor boy when he wakes up, of course."

Sam didn't trust himself to speak, but just nodded. Waking up. Please, he started to pray as he let the two aliens lead him down the hallway, just let him get a miracle, and let Noah be okay, and actually able to wake up


	8. Chapter 8

"See?" Zoe said as they came in the door of Noah's room. "All fixed, just like my niece said." She patted his shoulder before turning, leaving him in her niece's tender care. She needed to drop in on that poor human to make sure her son had actually shown some manners for a change.

What felt like a lead weight that had been pressing on his chest lifted when Sam caught sight of Noah. Alive, he was alive and... He slowly moved to his bedside, his eyes going wide as he took in Noah's condition. With how he had been shot, Sam had expected something vastly different, if by some miracle Noah had survived but... One IV dripping blood, steady breathing without so much as an oxygen mask or those prong things for assistance, the only bandage that he could see a cartoon one on Noah's chest, that looked like it was covering where the girl had stuck him with that needle.

"We have good technology here." Kay said as he moved from where he had been standing by the wall and came to join his brother. Aileen had gone to talk to Zed, saying she didn't want to risk overwhelming Sam with too much, too fast. Looked like he was already overwhelmed, though. Finding out his hopeful future sister-in-law was from another planet probably wouldn't be too much of an additional shock.

"You're supposed to be dead. You know that, right?" Sam said, not even taking his eyes off of Noah, to look at his twin. Fine, Noah was fine. But... He closed his eyes for a moment, as he forced away a sudden pain. This sort of technology, could they have saved Patrick too, or at least spared Catherine what she had gone through in the wake of the baby's birth? His brother, having access to stuff like this, why hadn't he... Sam shook his head forcing away those thoughts before they could go further. No, getting mad at his brother wasn't worth it. If not for him, he would have lost a second child. Better to focus on that, and maybe there was a chance... He would have to get Catherine there somehow, but...

"That's what Hawk said."

"Hawk?" Sam did look up then. "Didn't he die on the moon?"

"No. Crashlanded and broke up a Darkon invasion. Only polite to give him a lift back home." Kay said.

"Wonderful. You know, I took the day off to go to his funeral." Catherine was going to have a field day when she found out about this, never mind how she would react when she got the news that the brother he said was dead not only wasn't but was his identical twin, a little fact he had somehow failed to share. "So, what is this place?" Sam asked as he reached out and put a careful hand on Noah's shoulder, to reassure himself that the boy was actually there.

"The Men in Black. We monitor and police alien activity on Earth."

"Hate to tell you this, but you missed one." Aliens were definitely real. It explained Cosmo. At least it explained Cosmo. Probably a good thing that he hadn't found out about this before the little incident with Cosmo's wardrobe and the concussion Cath got as a result of the exploding clothes, though. She would have demanded he be kicked off the planet if she had known. She still might, come to think of it. If she didn't decide to try getting him kicked off the planet first, when she found out about that twin he had forgotten to mention. Noah, though... Sam gingerly took the boy's hand, still not half believing what was right in front of him. He had been so sure that he was going to lose a second son. To have Noah safe and sound, he would take any amount of yelling that Cath felt like. He had been so close. "When I get my hands on..."

"Oh, for goodness sakes, how many times do I have to say that poor man didn't do a thing wrong? Do you humans have some sort of odd hobby, chasing poor innocent people around?" Zara said as she came back in, medicine in hand, and shoved it into Sam's hands before he could object, along with a glass of water. "Swallow, and what in the world made you think you should be running around in the first place with ribs like that? You're lucky you didn't give yourself pneumonia before now. Not that you're going to be able to avoid it if you don't take something this instant."

"That might be from that little dip he took in the river. You have something about water, don't you?" Kay said.

"You're not trying to keep Noah awake anymore. Do you really need to bring all of that up?" Sam thought for a moment about questioning what the pill he had been handed was, but after a glance at Zara, he decided not to risk it, and swallowed with a gulp of water. "Wait. Innocent?" Finally what the alien girl had been saying all along sunk in.

"Well, he certainly wasn't the one who did that." Zara waved her hand in Noah's direction before continuing. "Agent Jay, Edie and I were right outside the room when those shots were fired. When I went in, that poor dear was moving from the floor, and thank goodness knocking that weapon away from the weaselly fellow. There was no way that he could have fired those shots. The angle was all wrong. The shot would have been maybe forty-five degrees, and wouldn't have done near the damage it did if that poor man had been the one firing. Really, I don't know how in the world that horrible, horrible human thought he was going to get away with it. You humans do have fingerprinting and forensics here, don't you?"

"Not as good as Jeedangian layered techniques." Kay said. "He probably planned to either wipe the the gun or make sure the prints were smeared enough to back whatever story he was going to tell." That gun. The clean-up crew had swept the nursing home, erasing signs of the MIB. He was almost positive that the room where the shooting had taken place had been nearly cleared as a result. That gun was likely down in processing somewhere. Down in processing, not wiped and ripe for their techniques. "Want some help with this, little brother?"

"We could use it." Another innocent fugitive. He was going to have to tell Catherine to start screening these things. He was still being reminded of Richard Kimble. Another innocent fugitive and he would be hearing about it for the rest of his career. He could think about that later, though. Where in the world was Royce? "Kevin, do you know if they picked up Royce?"

"I'm assuming that the weasel's name. The only people we brought in who weren't in that room when I got there were your team. And it's Kay now."

"You do know that's a girl's name, right?" Royce was on the loose somewhere. "Just perfect. "How secure is this building?"

"As secure as it gets." True, they had had some aliens who had managed to breach security, but a human, and one as careless as the one who had almost killed his nephew, just wasn't getting in. "Your boy's safe here."

Sam nodded. One less thing to worry about. Royce was probably counting on his shots being fatal, but still, even if he was an idiot, he couldn't see him not trying to track down Noah to make sure. If his brother was right, Noah was safe, but…. "Catherine!" Noah was here, his team was here somewhere, he could only hope not somewhere with access to shopping, so that Cosmo could replace his lost luggage with clothing from his native planet. Cath, though, was still out there, with no clue what was going on. "Do you have phones here?" Royce would spin this to try to blame the entire situation on Sheridan. Cath wouldn't have a clue, and if Royce knew how they felt about each other, which he didn't see how the idiot could have missed after Cath showed up after his shooting, then he would use her to try to draw him out and…. No, he wasn't going to call. He couldn't take the chance. He needed to get to Cath, and get her someplace safe.

"You're not going anywhere." Kay said as he caught his brother before he could reach the door. "What's going on? Wait, you think he'll go after…."

"Definitely." Sam said with a grim expression. The entire team missing, Royce reporting that Sheridan shot Noah, who knows what Cath was going to think. She was good, one of the best agents that he had known, but if she though he was in danger or had gone off the ropes, it would be a snap for Royce to lure her off someplace and do things that he didn't want to think of that would be blamed on Sheridan, knowing the news reports would send him flying to her side. "Kevin, let…."

"We'll get her. Zara?" Kay said as he tossed the keys to the LTD to the alien. "Go find Slick and Edie. Tell them I need a pick-up. Catherine Walsh. The twins ought to have a fix on her." He paused for a moment. Speed might be important, and even if Jay had managed to get the LTD back in one peace from the nursing home, it didn't mean he was going to trust him with the little red button. "You ever managed something like the car before?"

"I'm as good a driver as my cousin. We'll be back in no time with one little bitty human." Zara told him before turning to the door. "Don't worry about it. Just give your brother the good news."

"Good news?" Sam asked. His brother had sent at least one alien to collect Catherine. Maybe he could blame the entire thing on Kevin and avoid Cath actually going through with her favorite threat to fire him.

"It's about Noah. Sit down, Little Brother." Kay pulled Sam away from the door and pushed him into a chair.

"Noah? Wait, you said he was…."

"He's fine. You might actually have to let him rest for awhile instead of sleeping next month, but the kid's going to be fine. The thing is when they were replacing the blood he lost, we do it by cloning red blood cells. When they were running a sample of Noah's blood through the system for that, a genetic match got kicked back. Mine."

"Yours?"

"I wasn't doing anything back then that could result in a kid, let me reassure you, Little Brother." Kay put a hand on his brother's shoulder, hoping he could steady him as he delivered the rest of the news. "We opened the adoption records. Sam, the baby that you had with Catherine, that boy's your son.


End file.
